Bank of America Earns $2.0 Billion in First Quarter

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Apr 15, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Bank of America Corporation today reported net income of $2.0 billion, or $0.17 per diluted share, for the first quarter of 2011, compared with $3.2 billion, or $0.28 per diluted share, in the year-ago period and a net loss of $1.2 billion, or $0.16 per diluted share, in the fourth quarter of 2010.

Results for the most recent quarter were positively affected by lower credit costs, gains from equity investments, and higher asset management fees and investment banking fees. These factors were partially offset by higher legacy mortgage-related costs, higher litigation expenses, and lower sales and trading revenue from the record levels reported in the first quarter of 2010.

'Strong growth in deposit balances and positive contributions from five of our six businesses reflect the steady improvement in the broader economy', said Chief Executive Officer Brian Moynihan. 'Our customer-focused strategy is working well, and we also benefited from improved credit quality.

'While still soft, the economy is healing; we see retail spending up versus the year-ago period and continued declines in bankruptcy filings and delinquency rates'.

First-Quarter 2011 Financial Highlights

U.S. credit card performance metrics continued to improve in the first quarter, with 30+ day delinquency rates near all-time lows, net losses declining for the sixth straight quarter, and customer payment rates improving for the seventh straight quarter.

Average deposit balances were above $1 trillion, gaining 4 percent from the year-ago period and 2 percent from the fourth quarter of 2010.

Tangible book value1 per share rose to $13.21 in the first quarter of 2011, up from $12.98 at the end of 2010 and $11.70 in the first quarter of 2010.

The company continued to strengthen the balance sheet with risk-weighted assets declining $23 billion and global excess liquidity increasing $50 billion from the end of 2010 to $386 billion at March 31, 2011.

Regulatory capital ratios remained strong with the Tier 1 common ratio at 8.64 percent at March 31, 2011, compared to 8.60 percent at December 31, 2010, and 7.60 percent at March 31, 2010. The increase from the fourth quarter of 2010 was largely due to higher retained earnings and a reduction in risk-weighted assets, partially offset by an increase in the company's disallowed deferred tax asset (27 basis points of Tier 1 common). The tangible common equity ratio1 rose to 6.10 percent at March 31, 2011 from 5.99 percent at December 31, 2010 and 5.22 percent at March 31, 2010.

The provision for credit losses declined 61 percent from the year-ago quarter as net charge-offs fell for the fourth consecutive quarter, reflecting improved credit quality across most consumer and commercial portfolios.

The allowance for loan and lease losses to annualized net charge-off coverage ratio improved in the first quarter of 2011 to 1.63 times, compared with 1.56 times in the fourth quarter of 2010 and 1.07 times in the first quarter of 2010.

1 Tangible book value per share of common stock and the tangible common equity ratio are non-GAAP measures. Other companies may define or calculate this measure differently. For reconciliation to GAAP measures, refer to page 21 of this press release.

First-Quarter Business Highlights

The Deposits segment returned to profitability in the first quarter of 2011. Average deposit balances grew $5 billion, or 1 percent, from the fourth quarter of 2010, and the number of net new accounts rose as the business continued to focus on quality sales and retention of customer relationships.

Global Commercial Banking saw loan growth of 2 percent in its core middle-market segment, compared to the fourth quarter of 2010, and continued to support small and medium-sized businesses. Combined with the large corporate group, the company made $69 billion in non-commercial real estate loans and $7 billion in commercial real estate loans including renewals in the first quarter of 2011.

Bank of America continued to support the economic recovery by extending approximately $144 billion in credit in the first quarter of 2011, according to preliminary data. In addition to the numbers reported above, credit extensions included $57 billion in first mortgages, $4 billion in U.S. consumer and small business card, $2 billion in home equity products and $5 billion in other consumer credit.

Global Wealth and Investment Management (GWIM) reported one of its strongest quarters since the acquisition of Merrill Lynch, setting records for revenue, asset management fees and brokerage income. In addition, the business more than doubled long-term asset management flows and added 184 financial advisors since the end of 2010 through a combination ofnew hires and high advisor retention rates.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML) ranked No.2 in both global and U.S. investment banking fees for the first quarter of 2011 with a market share of 7.9 percent and 12.3 percent, respectively, according to Dealogic. The global market share improved by 1.6 percentage points from the fourth quarter of 2010 and was the largest increase among the top 15 banks, according to Dealogic.

BAML gained market share in global and U.S. fee pools compared to the fourth quarter of 2010 and ranked in the top three globally in Leveraged Loans, Asset and Mortgage-Backed Securities, Investment Grade Corporate Debt, Syndicated Loans, High-Yield Corporate Debt and Common Stock Underwriting.

The $57 billion in first mortgages funded in the first quarter helped nearly 260,000 homeowners either purchase a home or refinance an existing mortgage. This included approximately 12,000 first-time homebuyer credit-qualified mortgages originated by our retail channels and more than 86,000 mortgages to low- and moderate-income borrowers. Approximately 31 percent of funded first mortgages were for home purchases and 69 percent were refinances.

Since the start of 2008, Bank of America and previously Countrywide have completed 840,000 loan modifications with customers. During the first quarter, more than 64,000 loan modifications were completed, a 17 percent decrease from the total modifications in the first quarter of 2010.

First-Quarter 2011 Revenue and Expense

1 FTE basis is a non-GAAP measure. For reconciliation to GAAP measures, refer to page 21 of this press release.

Revenue, net of interest expense, on a fully taxable-equivalent (FTE) basis was down 16 percent from the first quarter of 2010 and up 20 percent from the fourth quarter of 2010. Net interest income on an FTE basis decreased 12 percent from a year earlier. The net interest yield fell 26 basis points from the year-ago quarter due primarily to lower consumer loan balances and was down 2 basis points from the fourth quarter of 2010.

Noninterest income declined $3.5 billion, or 19 percent from the year-ago quarter, due to lower trading account profits, a decline in mortgage banking income as a result of a $487 million increase in the representations and warranties provision and lower mortgage production income, and a decrease in service charge income of $534 million due to the impact of overdraft policy changes. Additionally, other income declined $943 million primarily due to negative fair value adjustments related to structured liabilities of $586 million, reflecting a tightening of credit spreads, compared to positive fair value adjustments of $224 million in the year-ago period. These declines were partially offset by improvements in equity investment income, which included a $1.1 billion gain related to an investee IPO.

Noninterest expense was up 14 percent from the year-ago quarter. This was driven in part by $874 million of mortgage-related assessments and waivers, which included $548 million for compensatory fees that the company expects to be assessed by the Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs) as a result of foreclosure delays, with the remainder being out-of-pocket costs that the company does not expect to recover because of foreclosure delays. Additionally, the increase reflected $1.0 billion in higher personnel costs as the company continued to build out businesses such as wealth management, expand its international capabilities in Global Banking and Markets, and increase staffing levels in the mortgage servicing business. Litigation expenses were up $352 million from the first quarter of 2010.

First-Quarter 2011 Credit Quality

1 Net charge-off ratios are calculated as annualized net charge-offs divided by average outstanding loans and leases during the period.

2 Nonperforming loans, leases and foreclosed properties ratios are calculated as nonperforming loans, leases and foreclosed properties divided by outstanding loans, leases and foreclosed properties at the end of the period.

3 Allowance for loan and lease losses ratios are calculated as allowance for loan and lease losses divided by loans and leases outstanding at the end of the period.

Note: Ratios do not include loans measured under the fair value option.

Credit quality improved in the first quarter, with net charge-offs declining across most portfolios compared to the first quarter of 2010. Provision for credit losses was $6.0 billion less than the year-ago quarter. Additionally, 30+ day performing delinquencies, excluding Federal Housing Administration-insured loans, declined across all major portfolios, and reservable criticized balances also continued to decline, down 29 percent from the year-ago period.

Net charge-offs declined $4.8 billion from the first quarter of 2010, reflecting improvement in both the consumer and commercial portfolios. The decrease was primarily driven by a decline in bankruptcies and delinquencies across the Global Card Services U.S. loan portfolio, as well as fewer and less severe charge-offs across the core commercial portfolio due to the continuing economic recovery.

The allowance for loan and lease losses to annualized net charge-off coverage ratio improved in the first quarter to 1.63 times, compared with 1.56 times in the fourth quarter of 2010 and 1.07 times in the first quarter of 2010. Excluding purchased credit-impaired loans, the allowance to annualized net charge-off coverage ratio was 1.31, 1.32 and 0.96 times for the same periods, respectively.

Nonperforming loans, leases and foreclosed properties were $31.6 billion at March 31, 2011, down from $32.7 billion at December 31, 2010, and $35.9 billion at March 31, 2010.

The provision for credit losses was $3.8 billion, which was $6.0 billion lower than the same period a year earlier. The provision was lower than net charge-offs, resulting in a $2.2 billion reduction in the allowance for loan and lease losses, including the reserve for unfunded commitments, in the first quarter of 2011 (net of reserve additions of $1.6 billion related to consumer-purchased credit-impaired portfolios as noted below). This compares with a $1.0 billion reduction in the first quarter of 2010.

Improved bankruptcies and delinquencies in the U.S. credit card, consumer lending and small business portfolios in the first quarter drove the reduction in the allowance for loan and lease losses. Additionally, stable portfolio performance, including lower delinquencies, within the non-purchased credit-impaired consumer real estate portfolios and the impacts of continuing improvement in economic conditions on the core commercial portfolio resulted in further reserve reductions. These were partially offset by life of loan reserve additions of $1.6 billion related to consumer purchased credit-impaired portfolios obtained in prior periods through acquisitions, reflecting a more negative outlook for home prices.

Capital and Liquidity Management

1Tangible common equity ratio and tangible book value per share are non-GAAP measures. Other companies may define or calculate the tangible common equity ratio and tangible book value per share differently. For reconciliation to GAAP measures, refer to page 21 of this press release.

The company's liquidity position strengthened during the first quarter of 2011. The company's total global excess liquidity increased approximately $50 billion from the end of the fourth quarter of 2010 to $386 billion at March 31, 2011. The company's time-to-required funding was 25 months at March 31, 2011.

During the first quarter of 2011, a cash dividend of $0.01 per common share was paid, and the company declared $310 million in preferred dividends. Period-end common shares issued and outstanding were 10.13 billion for the first quarter of 2011, 10.09 billion and 10.03 billion for the fourth and first quarters of 2010, respectively. The increase in outstanding shares year over year was driven primarily by the issuance of common stock under employee compensation plans during the year.

Business Segment Results

Deposits1

1Effective in the first quarter of 2011, the Merrill Edge(R) business was moved from the GWIM segment along with historical results.

2 Return on average economic capital is calculated as net income, excluding costs of funds and earnings credit on intangibles, divided by average economic capital. Economic capital represents allocated equity less goodwill and a percentage of intangible assets (excluding mortgage servicing rights).

n/m = not meaningful

Deposits reported net income of $355 million, down $346 million from the year-ago quarter due to a decline in revenue driven by lower noninterest income due to the impact of overdraft policy changes that were fully implemented in the third quarter of 2010. This compares with a loss of $190 million in the fourth quarter of 2010.

Net interest income was flat from the first quarter of 2010, as impacts from a customer shift to more liquid products and continued pricing discipline were offset by a lower net interest income allocation related to asset liability management (ALM) activities. Noninterest expense remained flat from a year ago.

Average deposit balances were up $1.5 billion from a year ago, driven by organic growth in liquid products, including Merrill Edge(R), partially offset by the net transfer of certain deposits to other client-managed businesses.

Global Card Services

1Return on average economic capital is calculated as net income, excluding costs of funds and earnings credit on intangibles, divided by average economic capital. Economic capital represents allocated equity less goodwill and a percentage of intangible assets (excluding mortgage servicing rights).

Global Card Services reportednet income of $1.7 billion, up $749 million from the year-ago quarter as lower credit costs more than offset a $1.2 billion decline in revenue. The lower revenue reflected a drop in net interest income from lower yields and lower average loans, including run-off portfolios, as well as lower noninterest income due to the impact of the CARD Act as provisions became effective throughout 2010.

Compared to the fourth quarter of 2010, net income was up $224 million as continued credit improvement led to lower credit costs, offsetting lower loan balances and lower yields.

Provision for credit losses decreased $2.6 billion from a year ago, driven by lower net charge-offs from lower delinquencies and decreasing bankruptcies as a result of the improved economic environment. Compared to a year ago, noninterest expense increased due to higher litigation expense.

Consumer Real Estate Services

(Previously Home Loans and Insurance)

1Includes a goodwill impairment charge of $2.0 billion in the fourth quarter of 2010.

On February 4, 2011, the company announced the strategic reorganization of the Home Loans and Insurance segment between its ongoing operations, which is referred to as Home Loans and Insurance, and a newly established team to manage the legacy mortgage portfolio, including owned loans and loans serviced for others, which is referred to as Legacy Asset Servicing.

Consumer Real Estate Services reported a net loss of $2.4 billion compared to a net loss of $2.1 billion for the same period in 2010. Revenue declined by $1.4 billion, and noninterest expense increased by $1.6 billion from the year-ago quarter. These amounts were partially offset by a decline in the provision for credit losses of $2.5 billion from a year ago. Home Loans and Insurance activities generated a small profit driven by the insurance business while the loss reported by Consumer Real Estate Services for the period was driven by exposures managed by Legacy Asset Servicing.

The decline in revenue from the same period in 2010 was primarily driven by an increase in representations and warranties provision, which is included in mortgage banking income, and a decline in core production income, driven by lower production volumes and margins. Additionally, net interest income declined mainly due to lower average loan balances.

Representations and warranties provision was $1.0 billion in the first quarter of 2011, compared to $526 million in the first quarter of 2010 and $4.1 billion in the fourth quarter of 2010. Slightly more than half of the $1.0 billion provision is attributable to the GSEs due to higher estimated repurchase rates related to the GSEs and HPI deterioration. The balance of the provision is related to certain monolines and is primarily attributable to additional experience with a monoline.

Provision for credit losses decreased to $1.1 billion from $3.6 billion in the year-ago quarter, driven primarily by improving delinquencies that led to reduced net charge-offs. In addition, the provision for credit losses benefited from a lower reserve addition in the Countrywide purchased credit-impaired home equity portfolio and the absence of the impact from certain modified loans that were written down to the underlying collateral value in the first quarter of 2010.

The increase in noninterest expense from the year-ago quarter was primarily due to mortgage-related assessments and waivers, which includes costs related to foreclosure delays and other out-of-pocket costs that the company does not expect to recover, as well as higher litigation expense, and default-related and other loss mitigation expenses. These increases were partially offset by lower production expenses due to lower origination volumes and lower insurance expenses.

Global Commercial Banking

1 Return on average economic capital is calculated as net income, excluding costs of funds and earnings credit on intangibles, divided by average economic capital. Economic capital represents allocated equity less goodwill and a percentage of intangible assets (excluding mortgage servicing rights).

Global Commercial Banking reported net incomeof $923 million, up $220 million from a year ago due to lower credit costs, partially offset by lower revenue.

Revenue decreased $440 million from a year ago, primarily due to a lower net interest income allocation related to asset and liability management activities, lower loan balances, and the absence of a gain on an expired loan purchase agreement in the prior-year period. These factors were partially offset by earnings on higher deposit balances. Compared to the fourth quarter of 2010, revenue increased by $38 million, reflecting higher services charges and an increase in commercial and industrial loan balances.

The provision for credit losses decreased $860 million to $76 million compared to the first quarter of 2010. The decrease was driven by improvements primarily in the commercial real estate portfolio, reflecting stabilizing values, and in the U.S. commercial portfolio, reflecting improved borrower credit profiles. Most other portfolios experienced lower net charge-offs attributable to more stable economic conditions.

Average deposit balances continued to grow, increasing by $16.6 billion from the year-ago quarter, as clients managed to new liquidity levels. Although average loan and lease balances decreased $21.9 billion from a year ago due to client deleveraging, average commercial and industrial loan balances have continued to show modest growth since the fourth quarter of 2010.

Global Banking and Markets

1Return on average economic capital is calculated as net income, excluding costs of funds and earnings credit on intangibles, divided by average economic capital. Economic capital represents allocated equity less goodwill and a percentage of intangible assets (excluding mortgage servicing rights).

Global Banking and Markets reported net income of $2.1 billion, down from $3.2 billion in the year-ago quarter, reflecting a less favorable trading environment than last year's record quarter and higher noninterest expense driven by investments in infrastructure and technology. This was partially offset by higher investment banking fees andlower provision for credit losses. Compared to the fourth quarter of 2010, revenue was up $2.4 billion, reflecting higher sales and trading revenue and increased investment banking fees. Provision for credit losses declined $438 million from the first quarter of 2010, due to stabilization in borrower credit profiles leading to lower reservable criticized levels and lower net charge-offs, which included a legal settlement recovery.

Overall, sales and trading revenue of $4.9 billion was down $2.1 billion from the first quarter of 2010 with the current period including Debit Valuation Adjustment (DVA) losses of $357 million, compared to gains of $169 million in the first quarter of 2010.

Fixed Income, Currency and Commodities sales and trading revenue of $3.6 billion declined $1.8 billion compared to the same quarter in the prior year, reflecting a weaker trading environment, specifically in rates and currencies and the ongoing wind-down of the proprietary trading business. Equities sales and trading revenue declined to $1.2 billion from $1.5 billion a year ago, driven primarily by lower equity derivatives trading, partially offset by an increase in commission revenue in the cash business.

Investment banking fees of $1.5 billion rose 24 percent in the first quarter of 2011, compared to the same period a year ago, reflecting strong performance in mergers and acquisitions as well as debt and equity issuances, particularly leveraged finance. Total investment banking fees for the company were up 26 percent over the year-ago period, outpacing the market fee pool growth, with 24 percent originating outside the U.S., compared to 18 percent in the fourth quarter of 2010.

Average loan and lease balances in the corporate bank increased 7 percent from the same period a year ago primarily from outside the U.S. This is in line with the company's international growth strategy.

Global Wealth and Investment Management1

1Effective in the first quarter of 2011, the Merrill Edge(R) business was moved to the Deposits segment along with historical results.

2Return on average economic capital is calculated as net income, excluding costs of funds and earnings credit on intangibles, divided by average economic capital. Economic capital represents allocated equity less goodwill and a percentage of intangible assets (excluding mortgage servicing rights).

3Assets under management (AUM) and total client balances both include $98 billion, respectively, of Columbia Management long-term asset management business through the date of sale on May 1, 2010.

Global Wealth and Investment Management net income increased 22 percent from the year-ago quarter due to higher net interest margin as a result of deposit growth, higher fee-based income and lower credit costs, partially offset by higher expenses. Revenue increased 11 percent from a year earlier to $4.5 billion, driven by record asset management fees and record brokerage revenue.

Asset management fees rose 6 percent from the fourth quarter of 2010 to $1.5 billion, while brokerage income was up 3 percent from the fourth quarter of 2010 to $890 million, the best quarter for both since the acquisition of Merrill Lynch.

The provision for credit losses decreased $196 million from a year ago, driven by reserve reductions compared to reserve additions in the year-ago quarter. The decrease was primarily due to improving portfolio trends and lower levels of charge-offs.

Noninterest expense increased $497 million from a year ago due primarily to higher revenue-related expenses, support costs and personnel costs associated with continued build-out of the business.

Average deposit balances grew 5 percent from the fourth quarter of 2010 to $258.5 billion and average loan balances grew slightly to $100.9 billion, marking the third consecutive quarter of loan growth.

At the end of the first quarter of 2011, the number of Financial Advisors totaled 15,695, and the total number of wealth advisors was 17,201, both up 3 percent from the first quarter of 2010.

All Other

All Other reported a net loss of $1.2 billion, compared to a net loss of $785 million a year ago, due to lower revenue and higher provision for credit losses. The decrease in revenue was due to negative fair value adjustments of $586 million related to structured liabilities, compared to positive fair value adjustments of $224 million in the year-ago period and a reduction in gains on sales of debt securities of $180 million in the first quarter of 2011. These were partially offset by an increase in net interest income and higher equity investment income, which included a $1.1 billion gain related to an IPO and a reduction in merger and restructuring charges of $319 million compared to the year-ago quarter.

All Other consists primarily of equity investments, the residential mortgage portfolio associated with ALM activities, the residual impact of the cost allocation process, merger and restructuring charges, intersegment eliminations, fair value adjustments related to structured liabilities and the results of certain consumer finance, investment management and commercial lending businesses that are being liquidated.